Anwer's viewpoint is balanced and pragmatic, and shows real generosity, all features rare in our privileged western world. The great pity of our generation is the way we continue without thought to apply the mean-ness of thought, the real lack of generosity of spirit, we inherit from our forebears. Almost without exception everyday, everywhere, in our modern 'civilised' societies we see this negative behaviour. Anwer reminds us to view the disruptive element of immigration and see that any disruption this presents is nominal. It is clear the insidious development of Nationalist sentiment always constitutes a far more real danger, and on grand scale. Mass migration - and mass integration - have been with us for a very long time - at least since the Neanderthal. Surely it is time for us all to have bigger hearts, be, like Anwer, more optomistic about the human race as a whole.

Immigration is hardly a matter for the folks for Dubia to make, and particularly based on their own common sense. I would suggest it would be interesting to see this author prove his point with references.

Immigration is a matter for the people of the United States. The United States has been enormously sucessful in almost every field of endevor with an integrated, and harmounious society. Clearly, immigration is NOT a requirement for my country to do well, and we don't need government officals shoving immigration down our throats. Since that very thing has begun to happen, it has become very clear the Congress is not particularly responsive to the very people who elected them, and we need a far more direct way to tell Congress what we want done. I would recommend a national ballot iniative or some other form of directed laws.

Nice argumantion as you focused on the disruptive aspect of immigration. I particularly like the final line, which is the for me the core of the issue nowadays.

By the way..on other topic: This is an intersting article that is worth reading:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/nyregion/04brazilians.html?ex=1354424400&en=d88a7473755b8924&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"Brazilians Giving Up Their American Dream" (NYT)

VERY INTERESTING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING.
I TEND TO AGREE WITH THE CONCLUSIONS.

i agree with you there immigration does have a balance but i believe it needs to be restored a little-

if you have immigration question click here

http://www.deportation-solutions.com/eloy/index.php

http://www.usaimmigration-attorney.com/

"Sell all your tired, your poor ... " were just empty words: at the time immigration to US was mostly free and anybody who could pay the boat ticket could become US citizen, the average capital brought in was, according to some statistics from the 1880s, 200$ in gold, which was not exactly "poor". When the real paupers became the majority of the immigrants, i.e. around 1900, the lid was slowly closed not only at the Western frontier of Europe (USA, Canada), but also at the Eastern frontier (Russia, Kingdom of Rumania).

The rich "poor people" are permitted to emigrate freely even now, but not the real poor, which were left home even one hundred years ago since they could not afford the passage.

The immigrants have difficulties in assimilating only if there is an institutional framework that prevents them. In Eastern Europe it is almost forgotten that between 1800 and 1900 hundreds of thousands of Germans, Poles or Italians moved East or South in search of work: only odd street names, almost abandoned Lutheran or Catholic churches and meaningless surnames are witnesses that not long ago Europeans took pride in the fact that only "barbaric" (the finger was pointed to Russia) countries demanded an entry visa.